Period 7: 1890-1945 Summary

US Expansion Abroad (1890s-1917)

• Motives:
  • Frontier closure (Frederick Jackson Turner).
  • Economic: access to markets (China) and raw materials.
  • Political competition with Europe and Japan.
  • Strategic: naval bases (Alfred T. Mahan).
  • Ideological: civilize non-Europeans.
• Examples:
  • Hawaii annexation.
  • Open Door Policy in China.
  • Spanish-American War: US acquires Cuba, Puerto Rico, Philippines, and Guam.
  • Philippine-American War (Emilio Aguinaldo).
  • Big Stick Policy (Roosevelt), Dollar Diplomacy (Taft), Moral Diplomacy (Wilson).

Debates Over America's Role

• Pro-Imperialism: McKinley, Roosevelt, Mahan.
• Anti-Imperialist League: Twain, Carnegie (opposed annexation of Philippines).
• Neutral at start of World War I, enters in 1917 due to:
  • Sinking of ships (Lusitania).
  • Zimmerman Telegram.
• Wilson's 14 Points at Versailles, League of Nations.
• Senate rejects League of Nations (Henry Cabot Lodge).

Interwar Period (1920s-1930s)

• Isolationist policies, reject League of Nations.
• Active role in Washington Naval Arms Deal, Kellogg-Briand Pact.
• Neutrality Acts to avoid war.
• America First Committee (Charles Lindbergh).
• Attack on Pearl Harbor (12/07/1941) leads to US entry into World War II.

Domestic Politics (1890s-1945)

• Progressive Era Reforms (1890s-1917):
  • Response to economic instability, social inequality, and political corruption; government intervention.
  • Urban focus, middle class, women's participation, muckrakers.
  • Regulate economy, environment, expand democracy.
  • Examples: Jane Addams, Florence Kelley, John Muir, Robert LaFollette, 17th Amendment, Sherman Antitrust Act, Clayton Antitrust Act, Federal Reserve Bank.
• Roaring Twenties:
  • Economic prosperity, new technologies (radio, Model T).
• Great Depression (1929):
  • Leads to the New Deal (1933-1938).
• World War II.

Social Changes

• Industrialization and Urbanization: Rise of corporations (increasingly regulated), By 1920, more Americans live in cities than in rural regions.
• New Opportunities for new groups, especially women and African Americans.
• The Great Migration (African Americans moving North).

Cultural and Political Tensions

• Espionage and Sedition Acts (limited free speech during WWI); Schenck v. US.
• Red Scare and Palmer Raids (arrests of socialists and radicals).
• Sacco and Vanzetti trial.
• Immigration Act of 1924 (2% quota based on 1890 census).
• Scopes Trial (fundamentalism vs. science).
• Prohibition (18th Amendment).
• Increased racial tensions and race riots.

New Deal (1933-1938)

• Response to Great Depression.
• Three R's: Relief, Recovery, Reform.
• Limited welfare state and increased federal government size.
• Key programs: FDIC, SEC, AAA, WPA, Civilian Conservation Corps, Wagner Act, Social Security.
• New Deal did not take up Civil Rights causes.
• Critics: Huey Long, conservatives, Supreme Court (struck down programs).
• Did not completely end the Great Depression.

World War II

• Home Front:
  • Shift to war production ends the Great Depression.
  • New opportunities for women (Rosie the Riveter) and minorities but there were also tensions at home.
  • Bracero Program: Allowed Mexican immigrants to come into The United States during World War two.
  • African Americans: Double Victory campaign.
  • Japanese internment (Korematsu v. US).
  • Zoot Suit Riots.
• Scientific Advancements: atomic bomb (Manhattan Project), sonar.
• US industrial power.
• Decision to drop atomic bomb (controversial).
• Big Three (Roosevelt, Stalin, Churchill) disagree on wartime strategy and postwar world.
• US emerges as superpower, joins United Nations, and enters the Cold War.